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A Free People's Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Abraham Lincoln
Nothing is more daring in the American experiment than the founders' belief that the American republic could remain free forever. But how was this to be done, and are Americans doing it today?
It is not enough for freedom to be won. It must also be sustained. Cultural observer Os Guinness argues that the American experiment in freedom is at risk. Summoning historical evidence on how democracies evolve, Guinness shows that contemporary views of freedom--most typically, a negative freedom from constraint-- are unsustainable because they undermine the conditions necessary for freedom to thrive. He calls us to reconsider the audacity of sustainable freedom and what it would take to restore it.
"In the end," Guinness writes, "the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans. The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor." The future of the republic depends on whether Americans will rise to the challenge of living up to America's unfulfilled potential for freedom, both for itself and for the world.
Nothing is more daring in the American experiment than the founders' belief that the American republic could remain free forever. But how was this to be done, and are Americans doing it today?
It is not enough for freedom to be won. It must also be sustained. Cultural observer Os Guinness argues that the American experiment in freedom is at risk. Summoning historical evidence on how democracies evolve, Guinness shows that contemporary views of freedom--most typically, a negative freedom from constraint-- are unsustainable because they undermine the conditions necessary for freedom to thrive. He calls us to reconsider the audacity of sustainable freedom and what it would take to restore it.
"In the end," Guinness writes, "the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans. The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor." The future of the republic depends on whether Americans will rise to the challenge of living up to America's unfulfilled potential for freedom, both for itself and for the world.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2012
77 people are currently reading
888 people want to read
About the author
Os Guinness
87 books351 followersOs Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford) is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The American Hour, Time for Truth and The Case for Civility. A frequent speaker and prominent social critic, he was the founder of the Trinity Forum and has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. He lives near Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
July 29, 2021
4.5. Wide-ranging and illumining contrast between two kinds of freedom: negative (“I’m free to do what I want”) and positive (“I’m free to do what I ought”). America’s very future as “leader of the free world” depends on her (our!) willingness to retain the virtue of the latter mindset—and its accompanying habits of the heart. Guinness is that rare gift: a brilliant thinker who communicates with pithy clarity.
July 11, 2013
Honestly, I was hoping this book would be a little better, but, as it is, it's a very important book. Guinness says that Americans are in danger of losing freedom because they don't understand what freedom really is. Freedom is not being able to do whatever you want. Freedom is being able to do what you ought to do. Real freedom is ordered. And the only restraint that doesn't defeat freedom is self-restraint. The Founders realized this. They knew that the Constitution was not enough. No, people need to be moral and virtuous--able to restrain and govern self--in order for the "American experiment" to work.
Guinness says the Founders believed in the Constitution and the "Golden Triangle," which says that freedom requires virtue, which requires faith, which requires freedom. Take away the Golden Triangle and the Constitution will not be enough to sustain freedom. He doesn't make this point, but we can see from recent history that it takes honest politicians and judges to interpret rightly the Constitution.
Guinness does not toe any party line. He blames recent administrations for unwise decisions, for sinking the nation into debt, for imperialistic excursions and so on. The way forward for America is to realize that freedom requires sustaining, which requires a strong sense of virtue, or morality, of obligation to others, not just to self.
I highly recommend this book. I truly think we have no idea what freedom is and we're very much in danger of losing it.
Guinness says the Founders believed in the Constitution and the "Golden Triangle," which says that freedom requires virtue, which requires faith, which requires freedom. Take away the Golden Triangle and the Constitution will not be enough to sustain freedom. He doesn't make this point, but we can see from recent history that it takes honest politicians and judges to interpret rightly the Constitution.
Guinness does not toe any party line. He blames recent administrations for unwise decisions, for sinking the nation into debt, for imperialistic excursions and so on. The way forward for America is to realize that freedom requires sustaining, which requires a strong sense of virtue, or morality, of obligation to others, not just to self.
I highly recommend this book. I truly think we have no idea what freedom is and we're very much in danger of losing it.
July 19, 2022
Os Guinness is always worth reading (or listening to in interviews, etc), especially for the Christian. I had higher hopes for this book, but it delivered mostly on its promise. Guinness starts out defining the different types of freedom, then covers the problems with America. Throughout he compares the trajectory of modern American, that of its founders' hopes and dreams for the country, the French Revolution, and various ideals from the Greco-Roman world. This first half of the book is the stronger and better part of his argument.
My biggest issue with the book is that his major target is American "imperialism." Since the book was published following the latter Bush presidency and in the first Obama presidency, it is understandable that Guinness would be worried about such issues. But the later Obama term and the current Biden term have shown that a more concerning issue is the loss of freedom in the area of government overreach (gender/trans laws, COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, and Critical Race Theory.) Guinness does touch on some of the gender issues of his day, but these issues have shown to be a much larger issue than "imperialism." He could not have foreseen how much the government would limit freedom over COVID nor foresee the popularity of CRT, however the causes for government to restrict freedom have proven to be more internal than external (imperialism) over the past few decades.
Even with those caveats, the book is still worth reading/listening to.
My biggest issue with the book is that his major target is American "imperialism." Since the book was published following the latter Bush presidency and in the first Obama presidency, it is understandable that Guinness would be worried about such issues. But the later Obama term and the current Biden term have shown that a more concerning issue is the loss of freedom in the area of government overreach (gender/trans laws, COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, and Critical Race Theory.) Guinness does touch on some of the gender issues of his day, but these issues have shown to be a much larger issue than "imperialism." He could not have foreseen how much the government would limit freedom over COVID nor foresee the popularity of CRT, however the causes for government to restrict freedom have proven to be more internal than external (imperialism) over the past few decades.
Even with those caveats, the book is still worth reading/listening to.
May 8, 2013
This book challenged me. It challenged me to think about our role in the world, to question our dealings with other nations, and to live in a way that will sustain freedom rather than being a part of its demise. I appreciate the "outsider's" view of America and what we need to do to improve our reputation in the world. As I was reading I truly felt sorrow over many things that we have not only allowed to happen but at times supported the wrong decisions.
This book also encouraged me. It encouraged me to start fresh and to in a sense return to the past so that I can move forward. It also encouraged me to not only think of myself as an individual but as a responsible member of a larger community that provides accountability for each other. Freedom, virtue, and faith are the three pillars that will reinforce each other and ultimately sustain freedom.
This book also encouraged me. It encouraged me to start fresh and to in a sense return to the past so that I can move forward. It also encouraged me to not only think of myself as an individual but as a responsible member of a larger community that provides accountability for each other. Freedom, virtue, and faith are the three pillars that will reinforce each other and ultimately sustain freedom.
January 28, 2020
One of the most timely books on the current state of American freedom. Guinness takes a look at the freedom that the founders of America intended, one that they believed could be sustained. There are a few key points made throughout the book on the freedom America was built on based on what the founders intended, and ways that we have strayed from that vision to get to where we are now.
First, Guinness discusses the current view of freedom in America. He defines freedom today as a negative freedom, which is a freedom from. Total negative freedom today in America has led to license and permissiveness. We define freedom now as being able to do whatever we want without anyone keeping me from it. Freedom is a detachment from authority, the ability to not submit to any law or person. This leads to many problems, from business without ethics and an ever increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor, and the present day issue of abortion in America. Guinness points out that this is not a sustainable freedom for it will always lead to personal, selfish gain being elevated over the well being of our fellow citizens and of our nation as a whole. Because our desires cannot ever be satisfied, this negative freedom only leads to greater slavery.
Freedom today, Guinness points out, lacks the positive freedom that our founders built the nation on, a freedom for something. A freedom that empowers us to do something more than just what we desire selfishly. A freedom that allows us to say no to the things that we desire for the good of others and the good of our nation. He calls it a freedom to do what we ought to do. He states that this freedom comes from virtue, virtue comes from faith, and faith from freedom. Guinness vehemently defends the importance of the freedom of belief. However, he raises the point that virtue cannot exist apart from faith. For man sees no reason to submit to anything other than his own desires if there is not someone greater than him. True character and virtue that is essential to freedom can only come from faith and is what the nation was built on. Apart from faith in a higher power, there is no basis for virtue.
Guinness states that our founders built America on faith, that outsiders recognized this as a distinguishing factor of America from the rest of the world. Religion was the foundation of our greatness as a nation. Judeo Christian values are inherit to our history and have set us apart throughout our history. To depart from this is for our country to commit suicide. We must face this reality in our history or completely reject that what our founders believed made this country great. Guinness says to do this, we have to have a proven alternative which has yet to be found. Today, our country faces the issue of relativism and cynicism, a culture of question everything and believe nothing to be true. Everything today is perception, but can a country thrive and sustain the freedom it was built upon in this way? Does history have anything to teach us? Was our founders beliefs about freedom worth following? Or is our history something we should reject all together and move forward in the way we are going? These are all questions that are brought up in this book.
A book that is a must read with the current state of our country. Guinness has produced a highly thought-provoking, timely book. I hope that it will be an instrument used for change in America.
First, Guinness discusses the current view of freedom in America. He defines freedom today as a negative freedom, which is a freedom from. Total negative freedom today in America has led to license and permissiveness. We define freedom now as being able to do whatever we want without anyone keeping me from it. Freedom is a detachment from authority, the ability to not submit to any law or person. This leads to many problems, from business without ethics and an ever increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor, and the present day issue of abortion in America. Guinness points out that this is not a sustainable freedom for it will always lead to personal, selfish gain being elevated over the well being of our fellow citizens and of our nation as a whole. Because our desires cannot ever be satisfied, this negative freedom only leads to greater slavery.
Freedom today, Guinness points out, lacks the positive freedom that our founders built the nation on, a freedom for something. A freedom that empowers us to do something more than just what we desire selfishly. A freedom that allows us to say no to the things that we desire for the good of others and the good of our nation. He calls it a freedom to do what we ought to do. He states that this freedom comes from virtue, virtue comes from faith, and faith from freedom. Guinness vehemently defends the importance of the freedom of belief. However, he raises the point that virtue cannot exist apart from faith. For man sees no reason to submit to anything other than his own desires if there is not someone greater than him. True character and virtue that is essential to freedom can only come from faith and is what the nation was built on. Apart from faith in a higher power, there is no basis for virtue.
Guinness states that our founders built America on faith, that outsiders recognized this as a distinguishing factor of America from the rest of the world. Religion was the foundation of our greatness as a nation. Judeo Christian values are inherit to our history and have set us apart throughout our history. To depart from this is for our country to commit suicide. We must face this reality in our history or completely reject that what our founders believed made this country great. Guinness says to do this, we have to have a proven alternative which has yet to be found. Today, our country faces the issue of relativism and cynicism, a culture of question everything and believe nothing to be true. Everything today is perception, but can a country thrive and sustain the freedom it was built upon in this way? Does history have anything to teach us? Was our founders beliefs about freedom worth following? Or is our history something we should reject all together and move forward in the way we are going? These are all questions that are brought up in this book.
A book that is a must read with the current state of our country. Guinness has produced a highly thought-provoking, timely book. I hope that it will be an instrument used for change in America.
December 31, 2016
Outstanding work by Guinness as usual. Great way to finish of my reading year. I would recommend this to individuals of all political stripes. The author has some very thoughtful and sobering challenges to both sides of the political aisle.
February 9, 2021
4.5 ⭐️ There were lots of ouch moments. Guinness is right in his evaluation of America. If only the people who needed to hear this would actually read it. Highly recommend for Americans that care about saving our country.
September 28, 2018
This book, like most everything by Os Guinness, is brilliant! It was so much more than an essay or a few ideas about liberty; it was a clarion call to action. In an age when secular progressives seem to hate the founding generations—they see only “racist, xenophobic slave owners,” rather than visionary and daring political philosophers— it is good to see a call to return to the fountain.
But this book is no reactionary tripe. There is both hope and clarity, as well as vision and a call to action.
Guinness’s obvious level of familiarity with the writings from the founding era, foreign observers like Tocqueville and Montesquieu, and contemporary critiques makes him worth considering. But the hopeful call to action was striking. If you are concerned about the direction of America and you want to have a plan for restoring and “sustaining freedom,” do yourself a favor and read this book!
But this book is no reactionary tripe. There is both hope and clarity, as well as vision and a call to action.
Guinness’s obvious level of familiarity with the writings from the founding era, foreign observers like Tocqueville and Montesquieu, and contemporary critiques makes him worth considering. But the hopeful call to action was striking. If you are concerned about the direction of America and you want to have a plan for restoring and “sustaining freedom,” do yourself a favor and read this book!
July 17, 2012
Well-researched and thoughtful treatise. Hypothesizing that a nation of laws is but one facet of what the founders had in mind, Guinness puts together observations of the moral mind-set that was present in the diverse gathering of men who first achieved freedom through the revolution, then ordered freedom through the establishment of the constitution and its tri-partite government. The sustainability of freedom is the sticking point, and he brings detailed discussion on how that might (or might not) be achieved in our fast-moving world.
I recommend this to every politician, to everyone who follows politics and to those who won't touch yucky politics with a 10-foot pole. In the last analysis, we are either self-governing together, or we fail in keeping this nation free.
I recommend this to every politician, to everyone who follows politics and to those who won't touch yucky politics with a 10-foot pole. In the last analysis, we are either self-governing together, or we fail in keeping this nation free.
February 5, 2019
I just finished Os Guinness’, “A Free People’s Suicide” (I had read half of it 2 years ago!) Well written, well thought out, informative, at times encouraging and yet, challenging; Os Guinness is a keen observer and an articulate writer. Anyone interested in democracy, and in particularly American democracy, and concerned about where it’s all heading, should read this book.
March 10, 2020
Awesome read. Although its thesis and themes are important and worthy of scholarly debate, this book is written to every American. It is approachable, easy to read, and it should prompt more study and thought.
Eric Metaxas, in his blurb, was right. Everyone should read this book, understand its themes, and be prepared to discuss them and be tested on them.
Eric Metaxas, in his blurb, was right. Everyone should read this book, understand its themes, and be prepared to discuss them and be tested on them.
December 6, 2021
Some classic Guinness here. American freedom can be destroyed from outside powers, but more efficiently from internal powers. Guinness looks at some ways in which that has already happened and points to guardrails that can be built to keep us on track. Some sensationalism here and there, but mostly accurate with an above average diagnosis.
November 1, 2020
A little less hard-hitting than Dust of Death (1973), but interesting nonetheless. But here's the thing. Due to this generation of Americans entitlement (the USA will always remain dominant), a critique like A Free People's Suicide will likely be quickly swept under the rug and ignored by most as "too negative". But things CAN change...
December 16, 2012
I won a free copy through First Reads. Please note that all quotes and page references are in regards to the ARC and not the final, published edition.
To be completely honest, I was not able to read every single page of this book. I read it over quite a few months and it was a struggle to get through 5 pages at a time. I think Os Guinness had a good idea when he set out to write this. I appreciated the outsiders view of my country. I did, in fact, agree with a lot of his sentiments regarding how America is losing the true idea behind our freedom. We are a very materialistic society and I agree with the author that we have twisted our freedom into the idea that we are free to buy what we want.
One of the most interesting points he has made, in my opinion, is the fact that not everyone - including the people of the countries that we are claiming to help - agrees that the US is truly providing aid and not simply lording military power over weaker nations:
"Americans must realize, however, that in the eyes of many people around the world, America's interventions in the name of universal democratic freedom are also an assertive form of positive freedom - especially when 'democratic freedom' is used to justify displays of American military power as if the cause of freedom were universally self-evident. After all, no positive freedom is self-evident except to those who believe it. Even 'humanitarian intervention' is not self-evident. It happens to be the term Hitler used to justify invading the Sudetenland and Mussolini used to justify his seizure of Ethiopia. Humanitarian intervention that is just must first be morally justified. It is never self-evident(page 64)."
The reason this passage stood out to me is that I found it interesting to hear the opinion of an outsider who is not in one of the countries receiving humanitarian intervention from the US. However, I am not really sure we can truly consider him an outsider any longer due to the fact that he resides just outside our capital.
Also interesting to me was the inclusion of Roman history. However, the implication at this point is that the United States is going to follow the Roman Empire into complete and utter destruction. While history has proven to be cyclical many times over, I'm not really sure this is such a great comparison for him to be making.
After covering the establishment of American freedom, Guinness also moved on to cover specific instances of how we are currently failing ourselves. For instance, take this passage from page 163:
"...consider the ironies of the sexual revolution. Those who set out to liberate sex from the cramping constraints of morality and tradition have emptied it of meaning and made it freer, less meaningful, and more chaotic and dangerous at the same time. The newly liberated sex is dangerous not just in the obvious sense of the risks of pregnancy and disease, but in the subtler irony of where unrestrained sex has led America socially. In America, every man is now every woman's potential assailant, and every woman is now every man's potential accuser. Far from Playboy's promised return to an Eden of easy Polynesian delights, Americans find themselves in a wilderness of broken hearts, lonely lives and an uneasy state of suspicion between the sexes."
I can wholeheartedly agree that we have taken the idea of personal freedoms too far. We are a very amoral society where people take advantage of others, commit heinous crimes, and just basically take what they want because they feel it is owed to them. It is a recipe for disaster.
To the point of why I disliked this book: Os Guinness is trying to make a statement about the current state of the US and how we are slowly destroying the ideals of freedom established by our forefathers. As I said above, I do agree with him about a lot of what he was trying to put across. However, his writing style is too stiff. There are a lot of unnecessary quotes from people like Alexis de Tocqueville and the Baron de Montesquieu. I realize they were revolutionary political thinkers in their times and were held in high regard but I often found myself wondering what the heck these quotes had to do with the author's point.
Also, a lot of times I felt that the author was pointing the finger solely at the people and not also the government. I think that the current state of affairs is not just the problem of one or the other but both.
The idea is there, the strong level of research is there... the writing style just does not do it justice. I think that readers who are more used to textbook-style political writings would be more into this volume that I was. I would recommend it to more scholarly types who don't mind stiff writing.
To be completely honest, I was not able to read every single page of this book. I read it over quite a few months and it was a struggle to get through 5 pages at a time. I think Os Guinness had a good idea when he set out to write this. I appreciated the outsiders view of my country. I did, in fact, agree with a lot of his sentiments regarding how America is losing the true idea behind our freedom. We are a very materialistic society and I agree with the author that we have twisted our freedom into the idea that we are free to buy what we want.
One of the most interesting points he has made, in my opinion, is the fact that not everyone - including the people of the countries that we are claiming to help - agrees that the US is truly providing aid and not simply lording military power over weaker nations:
"Americans must realize, however, that in the eyes of many people around the world, America's interventions in the name of universal democratic freedom are also an assertive form of positive freedom - especially when 'democratic freedom' is used to justify displays of American military power as if the cause of freedom were universally self-evident. After all, no positive freedom is self-evident except to those who believe it. Even 'humanitarian intervention' is not self-evident. It happens to be the term Hitler used to justify invading the Sudetenland and Mussolini used to justify his seizure of Ethiopia. Humanitarian intervention that is just must first be morally justified. It is never self-evident(page 64)."
The reason this passage stood out to me is that I found it interesting to hear the opinion of an outsider who is not in one of the countries receiving humanitarian intervention from the US. However, I am not really sure we can truly consider him an outsider any longer due to the fact that he resides just outside our capital.
Also interesting to me was the inclusion of Roman history. However, the implication at this point is that the United States is going to follow the Roman Empire into complete and utter destruction. While history has proven to be cyclical many times over, I'm not really sure this is such a great comparison for him to be making.
After covering the establishment of American freedom, Guinness also moved on to cover specific instances of how we are currently failing ourselves. For instance, take this passage from page 163:
"...consider the ironies of the sexual revolution. Those who set out to liberate sex from the cramping constraints of morality and tradition have emptied it of meaning and made it freer, less meaningful, and more chaotic and dangerous at the same time. The newly liberated sex is dangerous not just in the obvious sense of the risks of pregnancy and disease, but in the subtler irony of where unrestrained sex has led America socially. In America, every man is now every woman's potential assailant, and every woman is now every man's potential accuser. Far from Playboy's promised return to an Eden of easy Polynesian delights, Americans find themselves in a wilderness of broken hearts, lonely lives and an uneasy state of suspicion between the sexes."
I can wholeheartedly agree that we have taken the idea of personal freedoms too far. We are a very amoral society where people take advantage of others, commit heinous crimes, and just basically take what they want because they feel it is owed to them. It is a recipe for disaster.
To the point of why I disliked this book: Os Guinness is trying to make a statement about the current state of the US and how we are slowly destroying the ideals of freedom established by our forefathers. As I said above, I do agree with him about a lot of what he was trying to put across. However, his writing style is too stiff. There are a lot of unnecessary quotes from people like Alexis de Tocqueville and the Baron de Montesquieu. I realize they were revolutionary political thinkers in their times and were held in high regard but I often found myself wondering what the heck these quotes had to do with the author's point.
Also, a lot of times I felt that the author was pointing the finger solely at the people and not also the government. I think that the current state of affairs is not just the problem of one or the other but both.
The idea is there, the strong level of research is there... the writing style just does not do it justice. I think that readers who are more used to textbook-style political writings would be more into this volume that I was. I would recommend it to more scholarly types who don't mind stiff writing.
August 25, 2012
We Americans love to talk about freedom.
We call ourselves “the land of the free”; our Declaration of Independence talks about liberty as an “inalienable right”; there are still few things that can get an American riled up like the threat of a loss of freedom.
But our freedom is in jeopardy, says Os Guinness in his new book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. Guinness doesn’t find the primary threat to our freedom in an external source, like another nation, or even “big government” or “big business” or special interests. No, the enemy is us. Freedom cannot be won for all time and then left alone; it needs to be sustained. And, Guinness writes, Americans are failing to sustain the freedom our nation’s founders worked so hard to win: “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor. Powerful free people die only by their own hand, and free people have no one to blame but themselves” (37). The vision of freedom we Americans are pursuing is “short-lived and suicidal” (29).
(Side note: The title A Free People’s Suicide might seem bombastic, but it comes from a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”)
The problem with our vision of freedom is that the freedom we love to talk about and claim for ourselves focuses exclusively on freedom from external constraints. There are two kinds of freedom: freedom from constraint (negative freedom) and freedom for cultivating virtue and becoming the people we ought to be (positive freedom). Modern Americans are only interested in negative freedom. We claim rights and entitlements for ourselves, but do not care about duty, virtue, character, or pursuing excellence. Negative freedom alone is unsustainable. Freedom from external restraint, without self-restraint, undermines itself.
What can be done? Guinness argues that we need to return to the founders’ vision of freedom, which he calls the “Golden Triangle of Freedom.” He demonstrates that the founders did not have a vision of freedom that stopped with freedom from constraint. Rather, their vision of freedom was part of an interdependent triangle: freedom requires virtue; virtue requires faith; faith requires freedom.
Perhaps the most controversial part of this triangle of freedom in our time is faith (Eric Metaxas wrote a good review of this book in the Christian Post focusing on this point). The point for Guinness, and I agree, is not necessarily that the founders were Christians (though some were). Rather, the point is that the founders (even the Deists) were unanimous in their approval of faith of any kind, because faith fosters virtue, and only a virtuous people can remain free.
Guinness’ book is intended not just for Christians or religious people, but for all Americans who care about freedom. For that reason, I understand his arguing for faith as part of the golden triangle of freedom on pragmatic grounds (he follows the founders in adopting this tactic). Nevertheless, I think his argument ought to have particular force for Christians. The Bible also understands freedom as not merely freedom from constraint.
Six times in the book of Exodus, God says, “Let my people go so that they may serve me.” (Exod 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3). Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8;36), but he also said, “Take my yoke upon you” (Matt 11:29). Freedom, for the Christian, can never be merely about freedom from external constraints. It begins with freedom from constraint, but doesn’t stop there. Christian freedom is not just freedom from, but freedom for: freedom to serve God and others. From a Christian perspective, those who begin by thinking freedom is merely the absence of external constraints end by becoming slaves to their own appetites: greed, lust, and desire for power.
I applaud Guinness’ effort to prod Americans to do the hard work of sustaining freedom. I hope his argument gains a wide hearing. In particular, I hope his argument gains traction among Christians, who are just as prone to only care about negative freedom as anyone else, but who have the least reason for doing so.
Note: Thanks to InterVarsity Press for a review copy.
We call ourselves “the land of the free”; our Declaration of Independence talks about liberty as an “inalienable right”; there are still few things that can get an American riled up like the threat of a loss of freedom.
But our freedom is in jeopardy, says Os Guinness in his new book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. Guinness doesn’t find the primary threat to our freedom in an external source, like another nation, or even “big government” or “big business” or special interests. No, the enemy is us. Freedom cannot be won for all time and then left alone; it needs to be sustained. And, Guinness writes, Americans are failing to sustain the freedom our nation’s founders worked so hard to win: “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor. Powerful free people die only by their own hand, and free people have no one to blame but themselves” (37). The vision of freedom we Americans are pursuing is “short-lived and suicidal” (29).
(Side note: The title A Free People’s Suicide might seem bombastic, but it comes from a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”)
The problem with our vision of freedom is that the freedom we love to talk about and claim for ourselves focuses exclusively on freedom from external constraints. There are two kinds of freedom: freedom from constraint (negative freedom) and freedom for cultivating virtue and becoming the people we ought to be (positive freedom). Modern Americans are only interested in negative freedom. We claim rights and entitlements for ourselves, but do not care about duty, virtue, character, or pursuing excellence. Negative freedom alone is unsustainable. Freedom from external restraint, without self-restraint, undermines itself.
What can be done? Guinness argues that we need to return to the founders’ vision of freedom, which he calls the “Golden Triangle of Freedom.” He demonstrates that the founders did not have a vision of freedom that stopped with freedom from constraint. Rather, their vision of freedom was part of an interdependent triangle: freedom requires virtue; virtue requires faith; faith requires freedom.
Perhaps the most controversial part of this triangle of freedom in our time is faith (Eric Metaxas wrote a good review of this book in the Christian Post focusing on this point). The point for Guinness, and I agree, is not necessarily that the founders were Christians (though some were). Rather, the point is that the founders (even the Deists) were unanimous in their approval of faith of any kind, because faith fosters virtue, and only a virtuous people can remain free.
Guinness’ book is intended not just for Christians or religious people, but for all Americans who care about freedom. For that reason, I understand his arguing for faith as part of the golden triangle of freedom on pragmatic grounds (he follows the founders in adopting this tactic). Nevertheless, I think his argument ought to have particular force for Christians. The Bible also understands freedom as not merely freedom from constraint.
Six times in the book of Exodus, God says, “Let my people go so that they may serve me.” (Exod 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3). Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8;36), but he also said, “Take my yoke upon you” (Matt 11:29). Freedom, for the Christian, can never be merely about freedom from external constraints. It begins with freedom from constraint, but doesn’t stop there. Christian freedom is not just freedom from, but freedom for: freedom to serve God and others. From a Christian perspective, those who begin by thinking freedom is merely the absence of external constraints end by becoming slaves to their own appetites: greed, lust, and desire for power.
I applaud Guinness’ effort to prod Americans to do the hard work of sustaining freedom. I hope his argument gains a wide hearing. In particular, I hope his argument gains traction among Christians, who are just as prone to only care about negative freedom as anyone else, but who have the least reason for doing so.
Note: Thanks to InterVarsity Press for a review copy.
January 29, 2013
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” To which Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”[1] That question and Franklin’s reply cut to the heart of Os Guinness’s new book, A Free People’s Suicide.
According to Guinness, any society that wishes to be free must accomplish three tasks: win its freedom, order is freedom, and sustain its freedom. Americans commemorate the winning of our freedom on July 4, 1776, even though peace with Britain was not formalized until 1783. We commemorate the ordering of our freedom with the adoption (1787) and ratification (1789) of the Constitution. But sustaining our freedom is an unfinished and ongoing task.
Unfortunately, Guinness argues, “freedom has a chronic habit of undermining and destroying itself.” He notes three instances:
“When freedom runs to excess and breeds permissiveness and license.”
“When freedom so longs for its own security that its love of security undermines freedom.”
“When freedom becomes so caught up in its own glory that it justifies anything and everything done in its name, even such things as torture that contradict freedom.”
He then notes that “the last decade has displayed clear examples of each of these corruptions writ large in American culture and in American foreign policy.”
Now, Guinness is a Brit, so it’s easy—too easy—for freedom-loving patriots to dismiss his analysis as so much anti-American twaddle. But Guinness is an America-loving Brit. He doesn’t critique America in order to defame it but to improve it. Indeed, he argues that the sustainability of our freedom depends on our ability to appropriate the wisdom of the Founders for the present day.
A crucial component of that wisdom is what Guinness calls “the Golden Triangle of Freedom”: “Freedom requires virtue, which in turn requires faith of some sort, which in turn requires freedom.” The Constitution cannot secure American freedom in the absence of the character of its citizens. A government for free people requires self-government. But the source of self-government transcends the self and cannot be appropriated by means of coercion. Freedom requires virtue requires faith requires freedom. These qualities are symbiotic and mutually reinforcing.
Like Abraham Lincoln, Guinness doubts that America can be conquered by external foes. In Lincoln’s words, “As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” Rather, the real threat to the American experiment in ordered liberty is internal. In Guinness’s pithy words, “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor.” Sustainable freedom begins with renewal at the level of our nation’s moral foundation.
If I have any criticism of this otherwise excellent book, it is that Guinness, like the American Founders before him, is vague about the faith that virtue requires. Freedom requires virtue which requires faith of some sort. Those last three words should remind Christian readers—Guinness himself is an evangelical, and IVP Books is an evangelical publishing house—that Americans have always viewed religion in terms of social utility and been hesitant in the face of exclusive truth claims or spiritual practices. Christians in America, then, can contribute to the sustenance of their nation’s freedom, but must beware lest their Kingdom agenda be sacrificed upon a national altar.
According to Guinness, any society that wishes to be free must accomplish three tasks: win its freedom, order is freedom, and sustain its freedom. Americans commemorate the winning of our freedom on July 4, 1776, even though peace with Britain was not formalized until 1783. We commemorate the ordering of our freedom with the adoption (1787) and ratification (1789) of the Constitution. But sustaining our freedom is an unfinished and ongoing task.
Unfortunately, Guinness argues, “freedom has a chronic habit of undermining and destroying itself.” He notes three instances:
“When freedom runs to excess and breeds permissiveness and license.”
“When freedom so longs for its own security that its love of security undermines freedom.”
“When freedom becomes so caught up in its own glory that it justifies anything and everything done in its name, even such things as torture that contradict freedom.”
He then notes that “the last decade has displayed clear examples of each of these corruptions writ large in American culture and in American foreign policy.”
Now, Guinness is a Brit, so it’s easy—too easy—for freedom-loving patriots to dismiss his analysis as so much anti-American twaddle. But Guinness is an America-loving Brit. He doesn’t critique America in order to defame it but to improve it. Indeed, he argues that the sustainability of our freedom depends on our ability to appropriate the wisdom of the Founders for the present day.
A crucial component of that wisdom is what Guinness calls “the Golden Triangle of Freedom”: “Freedom requires virtue, which in turn requires faith of some sort, which in turn requires freedom.” The Constitution cannot secure American freedom in the absence of the character of its citizens. A government for free people requires self-government. But the source of self-government transcends the self and cannot be appropriated by means of coercion. Freedom requires virtue requires faith requires freedom. These qualities are symbiotic and mutually reinforcing.
Like Abraham Lincoln, Guinness doubts that America can be conquered by external foes. In Lincoln’s words, “As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” Rather, the real threat to the American experiment in ordered liberty is internal. In Guinness’s pithy words, “The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor.” Sustainable freedom begins with renewal at the level of our nation’s moral foundation.
If I have any criticism of this otherwise excellent book, it is that Guinness, like the American Founders before him, is vague about the faith that virtue requires. Freedom requires virtue which requires faith of some sort. Those last three words should remind Christian readers—Guinness himself is an evangelical, and IVP Books is an evangelical publishing house—that Americans have always viewed religion in terms of social utility and been hesitant in the face of exclusive truth claims or spiritual practices. Christians in America, then, can contribute to the sustenance of their nation’s freedom, but must beware lest their Kingdom agenda be sacrificed upon a national altar.
May 5, 2025
This book started well, then went on a roller coaster ride with gaps of incoherence (to my mind, at least), followed by stimulating prose, with similar cycles of varying lengths. Much of Os Guiness’ writing seems geared towards graduate students or well-educated citizens with history and/or political science backgrounds. I have those leanings but not the schooling to comprehend the deeper ideas, often presented in three or more stages.
If you have read other reviews written by me for Goodreads, you are familiar with the premise that no one reads in a vacuum. Such is the case here. I started this book during the first 100 days of the second Trump presidency. Most of these opening periods have been called “honeymoons”; if we use the same metaphor for the 2025 edition, I dare say most brides would come home seeking an annulment. Flipping a sentiment from Lincoln’s second inaugural address, Trump’s actions target perceived enemies with malice toward all. His disdain toward the Constitution and his displayed ignorance of the Declaration of Independence, revealed in an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran, shows the country and the world what a disastrous error in judgment millions of Americans made in voting him back in office. It is with this three month travesty fresh in my memory that I began this book, a book written before Trump One. The highlights below reflect this mindset.
Page 21
Machiavelli,…rooted political restlessness in the fact that human appetites are by nature “insatiable” because human beings are “able to desire everything” but unable “to secure everything.” As a result, “their desire is always greater than the power of acquisition.”
We have now reached the point where no sooner do Americans send their representatives to Washington than they turn on the Washington that they claim no longer represents them.
Page 37
…the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans.
Page 74
There are only two kinds of businesses (or politics, churches or nations): those that are changing and those that are going out of business.
Page 75
“Decay of libraries is like Alzheimer’s in the nation brain,” the poet Ted Hughes wrote.
Page 76
…warned by [George] Washington to be ever cautious about “entangling alliances”
In Washington’s “Farewell Address” in 1796, he said briefly, “Observe good faith and justice toward all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”
Page 78
At the core of the classical understanding was an acute sense of historical irony and an assumption that is the exact opposite of most people’s today: Nations are most vulnerable, not when they are weak, but when they are strong.
Page 81
…when success breeds prosperity and prosperity luxury, and luxury prevails, “it marks the end of a republic.” From Montesquieu
Page 84
…thoughts on the passing of time:
“Time, like an ever-flowing stream/ Bears all its sons away,” wrote Isaac Watts, the hymn writer so loved by the early colonists. These are the first two lines of a verse from one of the most popular hymns in England, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past. It is this reader’s favorite verse as it reminds me of baseball with the last two lines: “They fly, forgotten as a dream/ Dies at the opening day.”
Page 111-112
Were the framers correct that character counts in leadership?...For all that many scholars cared, the president [Clinton] might have had the morals of an alley cat, but however shameless he was, his character was a purely private issue. What mattered in public was competence, not character. Such is the case with Donald Trump, except that he has neither.
Page 112
…no amount of laws and regulations can make up for lack of integrity in a leader.
Page 116
As contemporary American politics illustrates all too clearly, the founders’ aristocracy of virtue has been well and truly replaced by what the English writer William Cobbett called the worst of all aristocracies---“moneyed aristocracy.” Money rather than monarchy and plutocracy rather than theocracy are the chief threats to republicanism today….the United States is becoming an aristocratic commonwealth and, even worse, a full-blooded plutocracy.
Page 175
To much of the world today, the United States is increasingly unwanted or irrelevant.
It will not do to equate America and freedom and then to assume that any and all American policies are automatically justified in the name of freedom.
Page 181
…the very real saying of Samuel Johnson, attacking the similar self-congratulatory “greatness” of the English: “We continue every day to show by new proofs, that no people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.” The description of the English would certainly apply to Donald Trump, who never hesitates to pat himself on the back while insulting his predecessors and opponents.
This book can be a valuable resource, but for me, it was a bit too advanced.
Three stars waxing
If you have read other reviews written by me for Goodreads, you are familiar with the premise that no one reads in a vacuum. Such is the case here. I started this book during the first 100 days of the second Trump presidency. Most of these opening periods have been called “honeymoons”; if we use the same metaphor for the 2025 edition, I dare say most brides would come home seeking an annulment. Flipping a sentiment from Lincoln’s second inaugural address, Trump’s actions target perceived enemies with malice toward all. His disdain toward the Constitution and his displayed ignorance of the Declaration of Independence, revealed in an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran, shows the country and the world what a disastrous error in judgment millions of Americans made in voting him back in office. It is with this three month travesty fresh in my memory that I began this book, a book written before Trump One. The highlights below reflect this mindset.
Page 21
Machiavelli,…rooted political restlessness in the fact that human appetites are by nature “insatiable” because human beings are “able to desire everything” but unable “to secure everything.” As a result, “their desire is always greater than the power of acquisition.”
We have now reached the point where no sooner do Americans send their representatives to Washington than they turn on the Washington that they claim no longer represents them.
Page 37
…the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans.
Page 74
There are only two kinds of businesses (or politics, churches or nations): those that are changing and those that are going out of business.
Page 75
“Decay of libraries is like Alzheimer’s in the nation brain,” the poet Ted Hughes wrote.
Page 76
…warned by [George] Washington to be ever cautious about “entangling alliances”
In Washington’s “Farewell Address” in 1796, he said briefly, “Observe good faith and justice toward all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”
Page 78
At the core of the classical understanding was an acute sense of historical irony and an assumption that is the exact opposite of most people’s today: Nations are most vulnerable, not when they are weak, but when they are strong.
Page 81
…when success breeds prosperity and prosperity luxury, and luxury prevails, “it marks the end of a republic.” From Montesquieu
Page 84
…thoughts on the passing of time:
“Time, like an ever-flowing stream/ Bears all its sons away,” wrote Isaac Watts, the hymn writer so loved by the early colonists. These are the first two lines of a verse from one of the most popular hymns in England, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past. It is this reader’s favorite verse as it reminds me of baseball with the last two lines: “They fly, forgotten as a dream/ Dies at the opening day.”
Page 111-112
Were the framers correct that character counts in leadership?...For all that many scholars cared, the president [Clinton] might have had the morals of an alley cat, but however shameless he was, his character was a purely private issue. What mattered in public was competence, not character. Such is the case with Donald Trump, except that he has neither.
Page 112
…no amount of laws and regulations can make up for lack of integrity in a leader.
Page 116
As contemporary American politics illustrates all too clearly, the founders’ aristocracy of virtue has been well and truly replaced by what the English writer William Cobbett called the worst of all aristocracies---“moneyed aristocracy.” Money rather than monarchy and plutocracy rather than theocracy are the chief threats to republicanism today….the United States is becoming an aristocratic commonwealth and, even worse, a full-blooded plutocracy.
Page 175
To much of the world today, the United States is increasingly unwanted or irrelevant.
It will not do to equate America and freedom and then to assume that any and all American policies are automatically justified in the name of freedom.
Page 181
…the very real saying of Samuel Johnson, attacking the similar self-congratulatory “greatness” of the English: “We continue every day to show by new proofs, that no people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.” The description of the English would certainly apply to Donald Trump, who never hesitates to pat himself on the back while insulting his predecessors and opponents.
This book can be a valuable resource, but for me, it was a bit too advanced.
Three stars waxing
June 27, 2022
Freedom, to be sustainable, requires not just Liberty in the abstract. What Os Guinness calls “the golden triangle of freedom” includes also Virtue as well as “Faith in something.” Without these three together, Freedom by itself cannot be maintained.
In his 2014 book, ‘A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future,’ Guinness delves deep into quotes from the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, plus also great thinkers from Western history – all to underscore the point that free peoples typically do not remain free forever.
Yet the audacious hope of the men who won the War of Independence against Great Britain in the late 18th century, then went on to turn 13 colonies into what is now the world’s declining yet still pre-eminent superpower, was that this free people would remain free forever.
Their ambition was not based on nothing, however. Students of Polybius, Cicero, Augustine, and others – the great men of renown who constituted the United States in the first place did so after careful study of what had caused other great empires and peoples to both rise and fail in maintaining their civilizations and societies.
As Guinness points out, in our day we have almost entirely divorced our ideas of liberty from their requisite partners – faith and virtue. Those are now thoroughly private matters, and liberty has been accordingly redefined to the point that any reminder of an objective standard of good character is shouted down because we are infringing on someone else’s freedom in the abstract.
Yet freedom cannot only exist in a negative sense, as freedom from unreasonable searches and seizure, or freedom from infringements on our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights exemplify. There is also a positive kind of freedom which is to and for something – freedom to do what one ought and must as a fulfillment of duty to God and our fellow man.
In our obsession with negative liberty, Guinness argues, we have lost sight of the sense in which our freedom is to do more than just whatever we want. Freedom is also crucially to do what we ought and what we must. But in this state of intentional amnesia, anyone telling us we must do something is said to be infringing on our freedom, because freedom to us is only to do what we want. And in our abandonment of faith and virtue we do not want to do what we ought.
Yet here again, to the extent that faith and virtue have become private matters, the American Republic has been just that much deprived of public faith and virtue. And the results are nothing short of catastrophic. Thus we waiver somewhere between Thomas Cole’s third and fourth paintings in his 1833-1836 series The Course of Empire – transitioning now from The Culmination to Destruction panels as many previous great empires throughout history have.
As demonstrated by the recent Supreme Court ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade, plus the subsequent response from angry Leftists and ambivalent establishment conservatives, this country is in crisis. And this is due to a nearly wholesale rejection of duty as oppressive. Men no longer have the duty even to be men. And women no longer have the duty to be women. In fact, we have flown so far and fast from even these basic duties to be men and women that we want to be liberated from even the claim that there is any such thing as men and women. Or, for those of us who want no such thing, we at least want to be liberated from any responsibility to oppose the assisted suicide of the American Republic.
Yet it is tragic how we all seem suddenly to believe again that there is such a thing as women now that the subject needs to be changed back to arguing what right they have to have their own children murdered. And the ball is in the court of the Pro Life movement to argue whether mothers who seek to get an abortion in states where that will now be illegal should be prosecuted for a crime. It would be funny if it were not so sad that the Left finishes Pride Month in the U.S. screeching at the sky again about women’s rights after having just denied emphatically for weeks that they even know what a woman is.
But this is all to say that Guinness is right. If we want to endure in The Culmination and not end in Destruction we must repent. We must rekindle and revive Christian faith and virtue in this country. Otherwise we cannot regain or sustain freedom, and in that case we are doomed.
For more assorted musings on 'A Free People's Suicide' by Os Guinness, check out this episode of The Garrett Ashley Mullet Show podcast.
https://thegarrettashleymulletshow.co...
In his 2014 book, ‘A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future,’ Guinness delves deep into quotes from the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, plus also great thinkers from Western history – all to underscore the point that free peoples typically do not remain free forever.
Yet the audacious hope of the men who won the War of Independence against Great Britain in the late 18th century, then went on to turn 13 colonies into what is now the world’s declining yet still pre-eminent superpower, was that this free people would remain free forever.
Their ambition was not based on nothing, however. Students of Polybius, Cicero, Augustine, and others – the great men of renown who constituted the United States in the first place did so after careful study of what had caused other great empires and peoples to both rise and fail in maintaining their civilizations and societies.
As Guinness points out, in our day we have almost entirely divorced our ideas of liberty from their requisite partners – faith and virtue. Those are now thoroughly private matters, and liberty has been accordingly redefined to the point that any reminder of an objective standard of good character is shouted down because we are infringing on someone else’s freedom in the abstract.
Yet freedom cannot only exist in a negative sense, as freedom from unreasonable searches and seizure, or freedom from infringements on our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights exemplify. There is also a positive kind of freedom which is to and for something – freedom to do what one ought and must as a fulfillment of duty to God and our fellow man.
In our obsession with negative liberty, Guinness argues, we have lost sight of the sense in which our freedom is to do more than just whatever we want. Freedom is also crucially to do what we ought and what we must. But in this state of intentional amnesia, anyone telling us we must do something is said to be infringing on our freedom, because freedom to us is only to do what we want. And in our abandonment of faith and virtue we do not want to do what we ought.
Yet here again, to the extent that faith and virtue have become private matters, the American Republic has been just that much deprived of public faith and virtue. And the results are nothing short of catastrophic. Thus we waiver somewhere between Thomas Cole’s third and fourth paintings in his 1833-1836 series The Course of Empire – transitioning now from The Culmination to Destruction panels as many previous great empires throughout history have.
As demonstrated by the recent Supreme Court ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade, plus the subsequent response from angry Leftists and ambivalent establishment conservatives, this country is in crisis. And this is due to a nearly wholesale rejection of duty as oppressive. Men no longer have the duty even to be men. And women no longer have the duty to be women. In fact, we have flown so far and fast from even these basic duties to be men and women that we want to be liberated from even the claim that there is any such thing as men and women. Or, for those of us who want no such thing, we at least want to be liberated from any responsibility to oppose the assisted suicide of the American Republic.
Yet it is tragic how we all seem suddenly to believe again that there is such a thing as women now that the subject needs to be changed back to arguing what right they have to have their own children murdered. And the ball is in the court of the Pro Life movement to argue whether mothers who seek to get an abortion in states where that will now be illegal should be prosecuted for a crime. It would be funny if it were not so sad that the Left finishes Pride Month in the U.S. screeching at the sky again about women’s rights after having just denied emphatically for weeks that they even know what a woman is.
But this is all to say that Guinness is right. If we want to endure in The Culmination and not end in Destruction we must repent. We must rekindle and revive Christian faith and virtue in this country. Otherwise we cannot regain or sustain freedom, and in that case we are doomed.
For more assorted musings on 'A Free People's Suicide' by Os Guinness, check out this episode of The Garrett Ashley Mullet Show podcast.
https://thegarrettashleymulletshow.co...
November 27, 2017
I must admit that I immediately took umbrage at Guinness's finger waving at America. I usually enjoy Os Guinness and he makes a fair amount of fine points. Perhaps I am guilty of the very American short-sightedness that he accuses us of. But despite his continual pronouncement of admiration for the American model, there is the persistent tone of a European patristically calling the US a bully on the international stage.
Though he doesn't state it in so many words, he implies that for us to be worthy of the liberty we claim by right of citizenship we must deal with all others in the same way. But I fail to see how our enemies captured in war are due the same constitutional protections that they seek to overthrow by might of arms. A difference does exist. He accuses us of overextending ourselves through a cultural imperialism that imposes or promotes American republicanism, openness, and capitalism on other cultures while at the same time stating that we should carry our liberties to all people's where we go. One can't have this cake and eat it without problems.
I call it a three-star read, but probably because of me and not the author. Os Guinness is better than that.
Though he doesn't state it in so many words, he implies that for us to be worthy of the liberty we claim by right of citizenship we must deal with all others in the same way. But I fail to see how our enemies captured in war are due the same constitutional protections that they seek to overthrow by might of arms. A difference does exist. He accuses us of overextending ourselves through a cultural imperialism that imposes or promotes American republicanism, openness, and capitalism on other cultures while at the same time stating that we should carry our liberties to all people's where we go. One can't have this cake and eat it without problems.
I call it a three-star read, but probably because of me and not the author. Os Guinness is better than that.
October 16, 2017
4 *s for its main theme to bring faith back to America the only way to sustain freedom. 2’* because it is so hard to understand and get through.
Get ready to spend a lot of time with your dictionary or computer. This book is 207 page and took me 33 days to read! You will encounter words, that I would venture to say, will challenge your vocabulary. (i.e. prosaic, hegemonic, virulent, sclerotic, caliphate, lots of ism’s’, xenophobic, patrimony, solipsism, promethean and on and on.)
Lots of great quotes among my favorites: Lord James Bryce: remarked that he was “startled by the thought of what might befall this huge yet delicate fabric of laws and commerce and social institutions were the foundation (of religion) it has rested on to crumble away.” (me too) And Abraham Lincoln “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be it author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
This book, I believe, deserves to be read and perhaps re read. I look forward to reading your comments when you read it.
Get ready to spend a lot of time with your dictionary or computer. This book is 207 page and took me 33 days to read! You will encounter words, that I would venture to say, will challenge your vocabulary. (i.e. prosaic, hegemonic, virulent, sclerotic, caliphate, lots of ism’s’, xenophobic, patrimony, solipsism, promethean and on and on.)
Lots of great quotes among my favorites: Lord James Bryce: remarked that he was “startled by the thought of what might befall this huge yet delicate fabric of laws and commerce and social institutions were the foundation (of religion) it has rested on to crumble away.” (me too) And Abraham Lincoln “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be it author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
This book, I believe, deserves to be read and perhaps re read. I look forward to reading your comments when you read it.
April 13, 2019
This is (in my opinion) an incredibly important book insofar as it takes a critical look at where we are in America today. Published in 2012, it was written prior to the election of Donald Trump as President and all the subsequent rancor that has taken place since then. I can only wonder if his (Guinness) optimism about the future of America would still hold in light of current circumstances. The thread that runs throughout this book is the golden triangle of freedom which consists of virtue, faith and character. Those values are sadly lacking not only in Washington but in America in general. One of the arguments he makes is that it is not prayer that is needed in school (in a pluralistic society such as ours who would be praying?), but rather it is the teaching of Civics that is so badly needed. We need to be teaching our children what it means to be a citizen and what it means to be virtuous. The rancor, the hate speech and the intolerance in the public square are symptoms of a society that has forgotten or has never been taught the principles upon which this nation were founded.
December 30, 2020
An interesting essay on the constructs designed by the founding fathers of the American Revolution.
How the will to power can stay in check by having socials constructs that promote for sustainable freedom. Religion is presented as one of the the regularising and motivating factors in such a society.
The ideals and rational presented to justify the success from the declaration of the independence to the American Constitution and the modern Consumer age. Thus, an argument is made on how the free people of the United States are in danger of jeopardising their own freedom.
It is argued that this also impacts most Western civilization, specially after the affairs of the cold war. The ideas of "modern freedom" are tied to liberal, democratic and capitalistic views. The overall desired "status quo" isn't the outcome of the will of a people over their tyrants, but of the triumph of a power over another: American versus Sovietic ideals.
Although the book does not seem to offer the answers to the threats in modern society, it invites you to search the pass for some of the answers and guiding lines. "This too, shall pass".
How the will to power can stay in check by having socials constructs that promote for sustainable freedom. Religion is presented as one of the the regularising and motivating factors in such a society.
The ideals and rational presented to justify the success from the declaration of the independence to the American Constitution and the modern Consumer age. Thus, an argument is made on how the free people of the United States are in danger of jeopardising their own freedom.
It is argued that this also impacts most Western civilization, specially after the affairs of the cold war. The ideas of "modern freedom" are tied to liberal, democratic and capitalistic views. The overall desired "status quo" isn't the outcome of the will of a people over their tyrants, but of the triumph of a power over another: American versus Sovietic ideals.
Although the book does not seem to offer the answers to the threats in modern society, it invites you to search the pass for some of the answers and guiding lines. "This too, shall pass".
October 30, 2021
“The framers also held that, though the Constitution's barriers against the abuse of power are indispensable, they were only ‘parchment barriers’ and therefore could never be more than part of the answer. And in some ways they were the secondary part at that. The U.S. Constitution was never meant to be the sole bulwark of freedom, let alone a self-perpetuating machine that would go by itself. The American founders were not, in Joseph de Maistre's words, ‘poor men who imagine that nations can be constituted with ink.’ Without strong ethics to support them, the best laws and the strongest institutions would only be ropes of sand.”
July 1, 2019
This should be required reading. Guiness is spot on in his assessment of what ails America, what will potentially doom us and how we can fix it. As this book was written a few years ago, it is even more eerie to see how much farther we have slipped as a nation to a point where we may not be able to come back. The other thing I would point out, before one side of the political spectrum gets too smug about it, he points the required blame in more than one direction. Everybody should read this book.
April 25, 2020
Wow! What an amazing book. I'd like to know the author's updated opinions today since this book is now 8 years old. Os Guiness is obviously a very learned man and the text assumes the reader will be well versed in the history of liberty. Embarrassingly, I admit I had to pause many times and research citations and other information to fully understand some points made. I agree with the general assessment about the direction our country and society is heading. I'd like to see a publication with concrete ideas about how to take us toward the renewal proposed at the conclusion of the book.
December 8, 2022
Guinness makes the case that the way forward for America is to realize that being the world's leading empire requires not only military, commerical, and cultural influence, it requires the citizens of the United States to sustain the freedom created by the framers. He posits the only way to avoid the fate of all prior empires is by cultivating a strong sense of virtue, or morality, of obligation to others, not just to self. Given our current state of division it's not likely we'll make another 246 years.
September 14, 2019
Found this a very interesting and timely read - even though it was written several years ago, it still applies. As difficult as some of it was to hear (or read), I found myself in agreement with his thesis and supporting points. I think it would be worthwhile reading for anyone interested in social / cultural issues, history and theology.
September 27, 2020
Joelle Reads Her Bookcase #52
I was completely prepared to loathe this book, but I finished it oddly surprised with how much I could agree with it. I realize some of his other books are problematic, and I have not read them - which, honestly, is why I thought I would have such an issue with this one - but he manages to strike a neutral tone and prove his point.
I was completely prepared to loathe this book, but I finished it oddly surprised with how much I could agree with it. I realize some of his other books are problematic, and I have not read them - which, honestly, is why I thought I would have such an issue with this one - but he manages to strike a neutral tone and prove his point.
July 16, 2017
Very few authors are capable of saying so much is so few words, Os Guinness is definitely one of them. And very few thinkers are as clear and salient as he in addressing the root cause of the moral decline in our nation. A truly free people requires a virtuous people.
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